Document processing devices, such as printers and copiers, include systems for transporting sheets of substrate media there-through. In order to increase the throughput of the device, the transport systems are designed to move the media rapidly along a media processing path. Transport systems may include wide transport belts or the media may be held against a large flat table for printing. One portion of the path which can negatively influence throughput is travel through a print zone in which an image will be imparted thereon. In the print zone, it is important that the movement of the sheet be precisely controlled to establish a high quality output. Moving the media into and out of the print zone in a controlled manner typically requires complicated transfers and involves various steps. Such transfers tend to negatively affect throughput.
Transport issues are especially difficult with relatively large or thick media when using a direct marking system. The use of direct marking systems in high end printing is rapidly expanding. By staggering small print-heads to create wide jetting arrays very fast printing systems can be achieved. One challenge with such systems is holding the media flat in the print zone so that it does not come in contact with any of the print heads. This challenge is even greater from large format sheets and/or long print zones since the overall hold down force over the large print area required can create significant drag making a sliding belt system impractical and create significant motion quality issues. This is especially true when transporting thick media such as folding carton or corrugated board which may require high hold down pressures.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a media transport system and method for efficiently moving media through a print zone to permit high quality outputs.